The Bureau of Solar Research was started by me, Joe Gluba, with the help of a Research Initiation Grant from Marywood University. The aim of the Bureau is to find ways to integrate solar technology and research into architecture. Rather than thinking of solar panels as industrial appliances attached to buildings, the Bureau seeks strategies to make solar technology desirable and beautiful additions to architecture. Using Marywood University's new School of Architecture's state-of-the-art digital fabrication equipment, we can laser cut and 3-d print very precise components. This technology allows us to test our ideas during the design process so that we can learn from our experiments. Digital fabrication also allows us to build the systems without having to hire outside manufacturers.

This website was created to allow people to follow our design process and learn from our ongoing research. The first project we will be covering on the website is called Solar Leaves. You can see images of early generations of the project in the image above. We hope to have working demonstration of Solar Leaves by September 2012. Please check back often to see the progress.